Gluten Free Dinner Rolls

These dinner rolls are light, fluffy and will make you forget they are gluten-free. They will also make you forget about what a challenge making homemade rolls for an average weeknight meal used to be. Interestingly, gluten-free baking is often easier than baking with gluten. For starters, there’s no fear of over-mixing and over-working the gluten that can result in a tough final product.

There is also often no kneading of dough when it comes to baking gluten-free bread. Often times, gluten-free bread dough and batter is far thinner than the gluten-full counterpart, so kneading isn’t an option.

In this recipes, the dough is mixed, scooped into the baking pan with a cookie scoop (like a small ice cream scoop) and the rolls rise right in the baking pan and go right into the oven. It’s such a streamlined process, making delicious pillow soft yeast rolls for dinner is possible any night of the week!

Speaking of yeast, baker’s yeast is gluten-free and many brands are sold with a gluten-free label. Be sure your yeast is fresh before you use it so that the dough will rise properly. Storing yeast in the refrigerator is a good idea for keeping it fresh.

Scoop dough into mounds in the pan. A small cookie scoop works well for even portions. Begin by placing a scoop of dough in the center of your pan, then add scoops of dough around it, working from the center outward to the pan edges until all dough is used. To smooth out the tops of the rolls, dip your fingertips in water and lightly smooth the dough.

Preheat your oven to 400F, place a lightly greased sheet of wax paper on top of your rolls (gently and lightly – do not press the wax paper down onto the rolls). Let the rolls rise in a warm place 25-30 minutes, until they are puffy and a bit larger. Do not allow dough to over-proof or the rolls will fall flat during baking.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until tops are golden brown and dough springs back when lightly pressed on top.

It is VERY IMPORTANT with most gluten-free breads that you allow adequate cooling time (minimum 30 minutes) before enjoying your baked goods. The bread continues to cook from the steam trapped inside and needs this extra time to prevent a gummy internal texture.